My Little Imouto
by Haileyamandar
Summary: “Yes. We are more than distant cousins. We are brother and sister. I am your onii-san, and you are my little imouto-chan.” A cute Neji and Hinata drabble. Inbetween Shippuuden and Naruto. Oneshot.


The night was calm and quiet, the skies clear and milky with stardust. It was crispy enough outside, too, for the Shinobi sitting around the campfire to see their breath as they exhaled. There were four people resting on sleeping cloths, two of them beginning to get lethargic as their eyes drooped from the exhaustion of a long day of travel. But the other two were alert, as it was their duty to stay awake and guard.

Hyuuga Hinata sat wrapped up in her own arms, eagerly leaning towards the orange and yellow flames as they devoured the oxygen around them. The blue-haired thirteen-year-old avoided eye contact with the boy sitting just a few feet away from her. He was terribly motionless; in the past nine minutes, he hadn't so much as blinked as he stared off into the trees, his thin brows furrowed in what Hinata had learned was his way of concentrating. Even though his attention wasn't on her, it still made her feel uncomfortable.

There had been an awkward silence between the two Hyuuga relatives ever since this morning, when Lady Tsunade had grouped them together for a quickie mission. The two sleeping people were just a couple of men who felt they needed escorts across the country borders. Neji didn't say much about the mission when he accepted it. It wasn't too unusual, however, for the lack of verbal communication on Hyuuga Neji's part, so it really didn't effect Hinata's mood. He was never a man of many words, always leaving it to someone else to strike up a conversation. But at least with other people, Neji would actually speak to them. When conversing with Hinata, he had a habit of answering with "hnns" and "mhmms" and today had been no exception to that seemingly pointless rule. It wasn't too hard for the almost-Chuunin to see why he was like that.

She was, after all, a branch above him in the family tree. Her father was the legal inheritor to the Hyuuga fortunes and fame, and Neji had to grow up feeling like his family was worthless. He held a grudge against her father, and so, against her. There was much more to the entire story, but Hinata didn't necessarily know all of the details, nor did she like to think about those that she did have knowledge of. She was only ashamed of the rift that had formed between her and Neji's families, all because of "family trees" - which she really didn't ever take into consideration, anyways. The way she saw it, Neji was as equal to her as anybody else in the world. Perhaps even better.

_Yes, Onii-san is better than me. At a lot of things._

Without thinking about the consequences, Hinata sighed long and depressed-like, slouching forward in a defeated manner.

"What is the matter?"

It took a moment longer than normal to register that Neji was addressing her. Feeling a heavy blush warm up her cheeks, Hinata hugged herself tighter and tried to gather a response that wouldn't sound too stupid. And since Neji had that strange way of knowing what you were thinking or feeling (at least from what she gathered in the old Chunnin exams) she tried to make sure she looked braver than she really felt.

"Um… There's n-nothing that's the matter," she mumbled while fidgeting with her fingers. She was stuttering only because she had been caught off guard, since this was the first time he was talking to her about something that didn't include mission orders.

He didn't say anything more on the subject.

Even though Neji wasn't too warmed up towards her - in fact, she was sure he still hated her - Hinata had always admired her cousin. They used to play together when they were small, at the old student academy. Before Neji had realized that there was a big mountain between the two of them, one that his father and society had taught him he could never climb. She remembered him being so gentle and kind, with a hand that was good for teaching others. Talented hands, she referred to them as. It was peculiar and depressing to think that, at one time, she turned to Neji for a sense of security, when it was him that had almost killed her nearly a year ago out of cold blood.

But, oddly enough, Hinata didn't feel any different about Neji now than she had eight years ago. If anything, her respect for him had grown. He had a passion for his beliefs that many others couldn't ever think of matching. Again, she sighed out loud before she could stop herself.

This time she dared a glance over at Neji. He was looking at her through squinted, blank eyes.

"There. You sighed again. Clearly there is something weighing on your mind," he spoke in a low voice, in his matter-of-factly kind of way. He watched intently as Hinata brushed some loose strands of hair from her fair face, scooting closer towards the fire until she was no longer sitting on her blanket. She shivered for a split second and she forced her body to stop, but his eagle eye saw through the charade. With civilized movements, he reached for his thickest sheet, skirted a foot around the fire, and handed her the blanket. She took it, but the expression on her face was priceless.

The random act of kindness was unexpected. Hinata eyed him incredulously as she snuggled into the blanket until only her face was exposed to the air. But he didn't seem to notice the look as cleared his throat and pressed her for more information.

"So what is it?" he asked her before she could manage an "arigato". She seemed reluctant to say what she was thinking.

"It was… Well…" she whispered, looking down at an ant crawling near her. Having something to focus on besides his face seemed to help her assemble her thoughts. "I'm not so sure it would interest you, Onii-san."

His face clouded at her petname. Hinata had called him her onii-san for as long as he could remember. He just couldn't believe that she still had the heart to call him her brother after all that had intervened with their old inseparableness. Especially after the way he had unjustly put such blame on her. He was different now; Naruto had been sure to make that happen. But despite the changes he had made in his own life, it was hard for him to be around this timid, compassionate girl. Just hearing her naïve voice reminded him of how he had once been a monster.

He exhaled through his nose, the warm carbon dioxide turning into vapor as it touched the cold air. "It does interest me. Tell me."

He offered a rare smile he wouldn't normally give to just anyone.

Strangely, this encouraged Hinata. She wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders, unable to hold back a smile of her own.

"I was… Just thinking of the past. When we were little. One of my favorite memories… Is that day when you turned six but you were sad because nobody acknowledged you because of it. And you had even practiced your ninjutsu… I remember watching you train so hard and it inspired me to try, too. Of course, I was no where near as good as you were with my substitution technique."

Hinata looked up at him sheepishly. But Neji nodded in agreement, looking up as an owl sailed across the treetops.

"That was the day… That you bought me that new weapon set. With the newest prototype of shurikens. The ones that I couldn't… Afford."

"Naruto helped me get them," Hinata quickly added with pride. "He said he had seen you staring at them one day through a window, like you really wanted them. And he put all of the money he had into the pool just for you."

"He probably thought that would make me like and respect him better. Back then, at least," Neji laughed with a smug smirk on his face. It was also a bit appreciative, in its own way.

Hinata chewed on a fingernail. A cold wind picked up and rustled the brush around them, causing the fire to flicker for a brief moment. But the two cousins didn't speak for a couple of minutes, drifting into a wordless lull.

"Naruto has a good heart, doesn't he, Onii-san?" Hinata admired out loud suddenly.

She watched Neji's face as he began to throw more logs onto the fire. He seemed in a better mood than she had seem him in…well, years, probably. That made her happy. She was glad for Neji. He had friends now, things to live for. He was forgiving. Maybe not forgetting, but forgiving was just enough.

"Yes, Naruto is a good kid. I have a lot to owe him. But, you know, I have a lot more to owe to someone else, Hinata," he said, putting his hands out to warm in the heat of the healthy flames. Hinata watched him curiously.

"Y-you do?" she asked, painfully wondering who that person could be.

"Well, yeah," he sighed, glancing over as she shivered underneath her sweater and blanket. He held out an arm and pulled her into a side-hug, rubbing his knuckles against her scalp to rough up her hair.

"After all, I think you were the very first person who forgave me for who I had been."

There was a gratefulness in his tone. It was the same voice he used to use when they were closer, basically the best of friends. The memory of it came back to her as she giggled quietly and pulled away from his reach.

"I forgave you because you are my family, my onii-san," Hinata asserted.

"Yes," Neji agreed, looking to the stars. "We are more than distant cousins. We are brother and sister. I am your onii-san, and you are my little imouto-chan."

At his declaration, Hinata felt her eyes bubble up with tears. She hid her face against the blanket and wiped her eyes dry. It was all she had ever really wished for; to have her big brother back. And eight years later, she finally did.

"Your little imouto…" she whispered under her breath.


End file.
